The Creative Crockpot of Christopher Olson

It has now been 96 days since TeamBuy told me this order could not be cancelled as it had already been shipped to me. Most recently, over ten days ago, I was told yet again that it would arrive shortly.

I have decided to to figure out how long the shipping should have taken***, on the assumption that the electronics factory where the device was being constructed was located at the very peak of Mount Everest and that you were using the slowest reasonable shipping options available.

Assuming it’s being transported by a Sherpa in no general rush, it would take about 14 days from the summit of Everest to Namache Bazar. From Namche Bazar, it’s another 2 day hike to Kukla Airport. From there the only option would be a 1 day transport flight to Kathmandu.

After that it’s a one day trip by truck across the border, (really 15 minutes) from Kathmandu, and then from there a train to Mumbai. From there, taking a freighter from Mumbai to San Francisco is a 22 day sail.

Then 2 days of truck travel to Vancouver. From there 2 days from distribution centre to delivery.

Then let’s add in 5 days for customs at each international crossing. Nepal to India, India to the US, US to Canada. (15).

That takes us to 58 days. By this shipping estimate, in another two weeks I could have received two of these since I placed the original order.

Any chance you can just give me my refund now? I think sufficient time has elapsed that we can call this a farce, and that i’m not getting the product.

***Based on a cursory internet search. All times are estimates and in no way should be considered accurate.

It was about two weeks ago, right in the middle of the provincial election that is being decided today, that my wife made an observation to me while driving.

“Where are all the lawn signs? The election has started right?”

And wow, was she right. There are very few signs on people’s lawns this election. I have no statistics to back this up, but from a general feeling, it certainly seems there are fewer signs than previous elections. Yes, in public spaces, there are dozens of signs sprouting up like ugly fungus, ruining pictureque corners, and dangerously blocking sightlines at intersections, like every other election. But on private property? Not so much.

And yet there’s no lack of passion for this election. People feel very strongly.

The problem is, no one supports anyone, they just hate the status quo. People aren’t clamouring for the policies and leadership of Adrian Dix, they’re just fleeing the current Liberal government.

BC is in a pretty awful predicament. Not satisfied by killing the HST, the populace is still looking for an outlet to take revenge on the government. Christy Clark’s campaign style leadership, is a jarring contrast to the governance style of Gordon Campbell, and it’s pretty clear it does not resonate with the electorate.

And her purposeful misclassifaction of tax incentives for the film industry as subsidies because it doesn’t fit her view of her family first platform is just straight infuriating. (Quick message Clark, you receive zero tax income from an industry that does not exist. Competing with other jurisdictions with tax INCENTIVES, will bring in tax revenue. You’re not actually spending any money Giving money to private charities – that’s a subsidy.)

The problem is there are no good options. The Green Party and its leader Jane Sterk are untested, and not even running a full slate of candidates. They have yet to break the public view that they are more than a one issue party.

The Conservative Party and John Cummins are marred by the poor optics of their federal cousins, it’s own internal struggles and ineptitude, and people’s fear of splitting the conversative vote and pushing the NDP into power. Not to mention some of the right wing social views held by (ex)candidates.

And then there’s the NDP, the only viable option for those enraged enough at the Liberals for people to sell out their province’s future.

People desperately want a change, and Adrian Dix is trying to sell them on change for the better. But looking at his platform, his promises of tax increases and spending, I’m highly doubtful his change is better.

And I don’t think it’s good for BC either. If your house is flooded, yes you want to change that situation. But change for change’s sake is not always the best idea. I would rather keep working on pumping out the basement, than to set my hosue on fire simply so at least things are different.

Here’s hoping for a minority government that doesn’t accomplish anything but get us new political leaders. 4 years of treading that flood water is certainly better than 4 years of watching the house burn.

The music was mixed using GarageBand and looping. The video was editing with FCPX 10.0.7, and the footage was a mixture of pro camera shots, the usual video camera, and one interview done with an iPhone. I’m sure you can tell which one.

I’ve had my nose to the grind for the past while, and my creative endeavours have been in promotional stuff. I have a long awaited review of a book coming up that I need to finish as well as a return to writing, as the political season gets underway post Christmas.

Here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to since the last update in November. I penned the following articles, listed from oldest to most recent:

I also put together the video seen in this article: My 36th Year Birthday Bounce. The actual video is nothing special with no real special video effects, though putting the supers for the throw count was tedious. If you watch the video, skip to the end for the crazier throws.

I was thinking I hadn’t written anything in a while, but researching what I had actually published shows I have written 7 articles over the period of two months where I also created 2 instructional DVDs, did a fair bit of website work and spent a lot of time working security shifts. (I even created a redesign of this site which still needs finishing.) Not too bad. Now that things will lighten up come February, I hope to get back to writing in earnest.

Association president, and Vancouver police chief Jim Chu is afraid that the bill will die on the order paper, leaving police with the requirement of a warrant to conduct wiretaps and internet surveillance.

Originally included in the first crime omnibus bill, Bill C-30 was removed due to the massive public backlash. Section 34 especially created a large controversy, with concerns that this would give not just police, but any government appointed agents unlimited power in eavesdropping on Canadians within the digital realm. ISP’s would be required to track their customers, and would have to hand over all information without need for a warrant, judicial oversight, or even the pre-tense of a criminal investigation.

The tragic story of Amanda Todd is long, and painful. The issues which her story brings up is so much more complex than our 24 hour news cycle media can ever hope to tackle, and so I highly recommend an article written by Lori O’Connell, which better illustrates the complexity of the issues of Cyber-bullying, and why bullying doesn’t convey a strong enough connotation for those who victimized Amanda Todd.

It’s been pretty quiet the last two weeks on the creative side. I’ve been working on a DVD project that’s not yet complete. I’m working towards putting together the curriculum for Can-ryu Jiu-jitsu as taught at Pacific Wave Jiu-jitsu. Filming of the first two belt levels was completed a couple of weeks ago using 3 cameras, and I’m using Final Cut Pro X to put together 2 projects, one for each belt. It’s a fairly straight forward project as this intention of this video is more as a reference guide, rather than a straight instructional video, and is targeted to students who have already seen the material in class. The supers are light, just indicating the names of the techniques, and I’m just providing a couple of angles for the techniques where it makes sense. All in all, a straight forward project.

I’ve also penned one article for the Pacific Wave Jiu-jitsu blog, entitled, When Establishing Control, Grab Like You Mean It, which examines the important of a strong, intent driven grip when applying techniques in in training and in real world application.

Politco On the provincial politics sides, I’m further worried that the recent infighting of the Conservative Party of BC as ruined my (admittedly far-fetched) dreams of a non-NDP party taking office next year. BC is financially doomed.

A couple of months ago we decided to put together an instructional speed video of us as instructors at Pacific Wave Jiu-jitsu. While I’m happy that the video turned out well, this being my first multi-camera project, I wouldn’t mind reshooting it with faster performance of the technique. It was shot with 2 cameras, the main camera being a Panasonic HDC-TM700. The second camera was an HD capable Sony Handycam I borrowed from a student. All camera shake in the film is from the actual shaking of the cameras from the force of the throws.

This site is the home of my multiple creative endeavours. No longer just a political rant soapbox, it's a place for me to share my different creations, from political op-eds, comics, photos (all the header images that slide by are photos I've taken), to videos and book reviews. Whatever I'm up to creatively, at the very least, will be linked to from here.